Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Sunderland West and Co-Chair of the APPG on Ticket Abuse, commenting on the CMA’s enforcement announcement regarding resale platforms:

“It is welcome news that the CMA are now considering enforcement action against the resale platforms, who we know have repeatedly flouted the law of the land, especially after the many years of MPs and campaigners saying just that.

“What is incredibly interesting from this announcement is the fact that the CMA have widened the scope of their investigations from their original terms after they have seen just how broken this market is and the further action needed to fix it.

“This is positive news from an agency who is ultimately instructed to protect consumers from companies disregarding their rights and will be an important step in the right direction to finally put fans first in this market, once and for all.”

Sharon Hodgson MP, Labour Co-Chair of the APPG on Ticket Abuse and a campaigner against ticket touts for over 8 years, said:

"After my 8 years of campaigning on this issue, it was excellent to see Parliament investigate the secondary ticketing market further - especially after their short inquiry session at the end of last year.

"Whilst viagogo failed to turn up and decided to hold Parliament and the wider British public in contempt, the session was productive and allowed for another chance to shine a light on this market and the abuses that go on within it.

"This ranged from what more can be done to enforce legislation, what testing of current consumer legislation should be taken in court, all the way to the principle of my Private Members Bill in 2011 to cap resale of tickets to face value plus 10% being revisited; to name just a few of the many ideas raised.

"This is an important step in the right direction to clean up this parasitical market so that fans are put first and it will be crucial in our next steps to see what comes from this inquiry."

"It is fantastic that FanFair Alliance have published their guide, backed by numerous artists and promoters including Mumford & Sons, You Me At Six and Amy Macdonald, to ensure that all fans are put first and equipped with the tools to navigate this parasitical and broken market. This guide will be an ideal companion for all fans to use and complements the work going on within the live entertainment industry and in Parliament to clean up this murky market.”

To see others who have backed the guide, including Mumford & Sons, Ed Sheeran & You Me At Six!, follow this link here.

Sharon Hodgson MP writes for the Huffington Post on Victims of Viagogo. You can read Sharon's Huffington Post blog on the Victims of Viagogo by following this link here.

Update - 13th March 2017

Sharon Hodgson MP reacts to the Government's announcement that they will ban the misuse of bots & implementing all of the recommendations of the Waterson Review into the secondary ticketing market:

“It is excellent news that the Government have now accepted the Ban the Bots amendment and will finally accept all of the recommendations of the Waterson Review, which to be frank, has been a long time coming.

“This is all down to the concerted campaigning of a whole host of people and organisations who have pushed the Government to do more to put fans first in this broken and parasitical market, and as someone who has been campaigning on this for a very long time, I am delighted that we have seen this day come.

“These measures will ensure that fans are protected and have assurances that they will not be ripped off any longer, but there still remains work to do to make sure that these measures are enforced properly so touts do not circumvent them as this is going to very soon be the law of the land.”

“It is welcome that there will now finally be enforcement of the consumer rights legislation on the statute book and the undertakings agreed between the Big 4 and the CMA.

“The non-compliance evidence found by the CMA backs up the often daily accounts, both online and in the press, that fans are being ripped off or not getting all the information they need when buying off secondary website. This is one part of a multi-faceted problem in this broken market.

“We know that non-compliance is rife within the market, and now that the Consumer Rights Act has been on the statute book for over a year, it is paramount that enforcement action is taken seriously and swiftly. Alongside this, we need to see the Government taking action on the issue of bulk purchasing of tickets for the sole intention of resale, otherwise this market will remain broken and fans will be continually ripped off.”

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announce review to assess whether the four secondary ticket platforms who provided undertakings last year to CMA (Get Me In!, Seatwave, Stubhub and Viagogo) are providing adequate information to consumers, in accordance with their undertakings and their legal obligations.

If you have had dealings with the four main secondary ticket platforms (Get Me In!, Seatwave, Stubhub and Viagogo), CMA are asking anyone with relevant information about their practices to submit evidence to the review.

Sharon speaks at a panel debate hosted by Newcastle University Culture Lab. Prof Waterson was also in attendance at the debate.

Following the publication of the Waterson Review, it is welcome to see recommendations in the report for an investigation by National Trading Standards and the police into the secondary market and see fans put first within the market, and notan afterthought.

The Business Secretary and Culture Secretary need to act to ensure these recommendations are implemented, and Sharon will push them to do so, as part of the cross-party campaign.

Sharon Hodgson, as Co-Chair of the APPG on Ticket Abuse welcomes recommendation for an investigation by Police and National Trading Standards into compliance of the law by the secondary ticketing market.

When the petition reaches 10,000 signatures, the Government must respond with a statement published on the petition’s website, but when it reaches 100,000 signatures, then the Petitions Committee must consider this petition to be debated by Members of Parliament..

"Fans are being ripped-off by ticket resales. The Consumer Rights Act has not changed this. We demand that Parliament enact last year’s ticket resale amendment, which provides tougher sanctions for resale websites, and also require ticket resellers to reveal their identities."

"On a commercial scale, touting deprives the Treasury of VAT, and performance copyright holders of royalties that should be paid on the mark-ups. It also denies artistes the ability to ensure their events are priced so anyone can attend."